Investigative journalist Sandhya Ravishankar has accused Netflix India and the makers of the Hindi film Reporting Live of plagiarising elements of her real-life journalistic career without giving her any credit.
In a strongly worded public post, Ravishankar alleged that she had pitched her life story to Netflix twice, in 2022 and 2023, but subsequently found striking similarities between her experiences and the film’s storyline.
The film, starring Parineeti Chopra, features a reporter named Sandhya who investigates an illegal sand-mining syndicate and its powerful network.
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Ravishankar pointed out that she herself had worked on an extensive investigative series exposing illegal beach sand mining syndicates in Tamil Nadu, a story that brought her national recognition and reportedly exposed her to serious threats.
In her post, Ravishankar directly addressed Netflix India and the film’s director-writer Dhruv Tripathi, alleging that the similarities were too specific to be dismissed as coincidence.
She wrote, “The next time you want to name a reporter character Sandhya, show her uncovering illegal sand mining, create a Tamil villain, and pick bits & pieces from MY real life story which was pitched to you TWICE in 2022 and 2023, AND not give me any credit at the least…. Think hard and well.”
Ravishankar also called out the film’s portrayal of journalism, describing it as a “supremely crappy movie” with “ham performances”. She said Parineeti Chopra’s portrayal bore little resemblance to her or to the realities of working journalists, while criticising the newsroom sequences as “idiotic and amateurish”.
She further alleged that the filmmakers had altered the story just enough to avoid potential legal action while retaining elements of her real-life experiences.
Demanding accountability, Ravishankar said Netflix and the creative team owed her a public apology. She called out director-writer Dhruv Tripathi, accusing the makers of taking someone else’s hard work and commercially exploiting it without acknowledgement.
Hello @NetflixIndia the next time you want to name a reporter character Sandhya, show her uncovering illegal sand mining, create a Tamil villain, and pick bits & pieces from MY real life story which was pitched to you TWICE in 2022 and 2023, AND not give me any credit at the least…. Think hard and well.
Thankfully it was a supremely crappy movie with ham performances and @ParineetiChopra was nothing like me. In fact she was nothing like any reporter & the newsroom portrayal was idiotic & amateurish. You’ve been clever enough to try & escape a lawsuit by altering the story enough.
You owe me a public apology at the very least but I’m certain you have no moral fibre in you to do so.
Shame on you all, especially the director-writer Dhruv Tripathi. Stealing other people’s hard work and making money sneakily out of it.
— Sandhya Ravishankar (@sandhyaravishan) October 30, 2026
Reporting Live, which began streaming on Netflix on October 9, 2026, is directed by Dhruv Tripathi and stars Parineeti Chopra as field reporter Sandhya, alongside Deven Bhojani as cameraman Vinod. The film revolves around an investigation into an illegal sand-mining racket and the dangers faced by journalists pursuing the story.
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